More no, than yes. We certainly dream or hallucinate our realities. But freewill is real. So the ability to create change anywhere is a matter of awareness.
Anything is possible, and you're both The Architect and Neo from The Matrix trilogy. — Bret Bernhoft
I too, am an Atheist -- or technically an Agnostic -- but due to my philosophical explorations of "something" like Plato/Aristotle's First Cause/Prime Mover, I am often labelled a woo-monger. As you implied, Atheism & Theism are typically viewed in terms of polar opposites, with no in between. But I find plenty of room in the middle ground for philosophical probing without falling into the trap of Tribal Faith or Sophistic Scientism.Somewhere "a something", which is closer to the highest truths, can be unearthed, studied, understood and applied. — Bret Bernhoft
Clarify what you mean by "reasonable" in this context. Thanks.completely reasonable — Bret Bernhoft
Clarify what you mean by "reasonable" in this context. Thanks. — 180 Proof
George Spencer-Brown, Laws of Form.... we cannot escape the fact that the world we know is
constructed in order (and thus in such a way as to be able) to see itself.
This is indeed amazing.
Not so much in view of what it sees, although this may
appear fantastic enough, but in respect of the fact that it can see at all.
But in order to do so, evidently it must first cut itself up into at least one state which sees, and at least one other state which
is seen. In this severed and mutilated condition, whatever it
sees is only partially itself. We may take it that the world
undoubtedly is itself (i.e. is indistinct from itself), but, in any attempt to see itself as an object, it must, equally undoubtedly, act* so as to make itself distinct from, and therefore false to, itself. In this condition it will always partially elude itself.
I am unsurprised, but nevertheless still baffled, at how far beyond our collective event horizon people are prepared to lay bets and debate the odds. — unenlightened
It seems not only natural but beneficial that people would do that - on the condition that they do it in a moderate and unzealous way. — flannel jesus
Einstein was way more confident in relativity that a lot of people think he had a right to be — flannel jesus
I am a true atheist (as well as humanist and capitalist); someone who does not believe in or give legitimacy to the traditional concepts of gods. At the same time, I am not a materialist. Because I observe there is a happy medium between these two absolute extremes. Somewhere "a something", which is closer to the highest truths, can be unearthed, studied, understood and applied. — Bret Bernhoft
You might enjoy The Tao of Physics by Fritjof Capra. — Athena
I don’t think it is reasonable because it involves the same activity: holding out for something better than the world. Theism is idealism run amok. It’s an exercise in slandering or dismissing the world, and holding oneself (one’s ideas, consciousness, mind) over and above it.
The problem with seeking the middle and not leaning one way or the other is that you never get to help decide where the center is. — NOS4A2
"Everything" which causes changes is material, ergo "energy" is material, no?It is mind-blowing to me that we are still materialists. Everything is energy. — Athena
How can "a beyond" the here and now provide "something better" to us within the here and now?I might be playing the same game as theism, by looking to "a beyond" for something better. — Bret Bernhoft
As a non-"materialist", what is it (ontically? epistemically?) about the material that you oppose?I am not a materialist. — Bret Bernhoft
What do you mean by "reality"?More simply, reality is mind/mental.
It is mind-blowing to me that we are still materialists. Everything is energy.
— Athena
"Everything" which causes changes is material, ergo "energy" is material, no? — 180 Proof
:100: :fire:All materialists believe that matter moves around, right? And matter requires energy to move and interact and change directions and so forth, right?
I've never met a materialist who doesn't believe in energy. — flannel jesus
Thank you for the recommendation. I have added it to my list of books to consider buying in the near-future. I am a big fan of literature that seeks to fuse seemingly incompatible paradigms, into a new coherent understanding of the universe. — Bret Bernhoft
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